Flexible space suit torso restraint system

ABSTRACT

A FABRIC TORSO STRUCTURE HAS A PLURALITY OF PLATES DISPOSED THEREON INTERCONNECTED BY A PLURALITY OF FLEXIBLE CABLES WHICH ARE CAPABLE OR RIGID TENSION IN RESPONSE TO PRESSURES WITHIN THE TORSO RESULTING FROM THE INFLATION OF THE SUIT. THE PLATES AND CABLES ARE SO DISPOSED AS TO PROVIDE A PLURALITY OF HOOP LOAD RESTRAINTS CIRCUMFERENTIALLY ABOUT THE TORSO ASSEMBLY, AND A PLURALITY OF PLUG LOAD RESTRAINTS AT LEAST ONE AT THE FRONT OF THE TORSO ASSEMBLY AND AT LEAST ONE AT THE BACK OF THE TORSO ASSEMBLY.

Feb. 23, 1971 E. e. VAIL FLEXIBLE SPACE SUIT TORSO RES'IRAINT SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1968 Feb. 23, 1971- E. G. VAIL 3,564,609

FLEXIBLE SPACE SUI I TORSO RESTRAINT SYSTEM Filed Aug. 5, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,564,609 FLEXIBLE SPACE SUIT TORSO RESTRAINT SYSTEM Edwin G. Vail, Simsbury, Conn., assignor to United Aircraft Corporation, East Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 750,334 Int. Cl. A62b 17/00 US. Cl. 2-2.1 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fabric torso structure has a plurality of plates disposed thereon interconnected by a plurality of flexible cables which are capable of rigid tension in response to pressures within the torso resulting from the inflation of the suit. The plates and cables are so disposed as to provide a plurality of hoop load restraints circumfer entially about the torso assembly, and a plurality of plug load restraints at least one at the front of the torso assembly and at least one at the back of the torso assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of invention This invention relates to pressurized suits, such as space suits and the like, and more particularly to an improved restrained torso therefor.

As used herein, the term space suit shall mean a pressurized suit suitable for use at low atmospheric pressures, or while in the absence of atmosphere, wherein the suit is internally pressurized so as to overcome the physiological effects of absence of atmospheric pressure upon the wearer, and so as to provide an artificial atmosphere for the wearer. The term torso refers to the portion of the suit which covers the upper trunk of the wearer, extending from the waist to the shoulders.

Description of the prior art Space suits which have been developed recently have resulted in improvements in mobility around the joints of the wearer, but most space suits in the prior art have torso portions which are substantially uncontrolled rigid bodies. In order for the space suit to allow freedom of operation of the wearer, and more particularly in order for the joints which join with the torso, such as shoulders, neck and waist, to operate at maximum efiiciency, a completely uncontrolled rigid torso is found to be undesirable.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide a controlled torso assembly for a space suit.

According to the present invention, the torso portion of the space suit is made of flexible material, such as a suitably treated cloth or lamination of fabric, plastic, rubber, and other flexible materials. In order to overcome the tendency of high internal pressure to cause ballooning of the torso, or even the bursting of the torso, the torso in accordance herewith is provided with a cable restraint system which restrains the fabric of which the torso is comprised, from undue ballooning, stretching, or a tendency to burst or rupture by man-imposed force loads while yet retaining the degree of flexibility required for optimum anthropomorphic shape and comfort of the wearer and for an optimum coaction with the points where the torso joins other portions of the space suit.

In accordance with specific aspects of the present invention, holding plates are embedded in the cloth of the space suit and cables which run longitudinally of the torso, and horizontally about the torso, as well as cables CAD 3,564,609 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 which extend diagonally, are utilized to restrain the overall growth and uncontrolled ballooning of the torso as a result of internal pressure, and to provide additional strength to the torso assembly so as to overcome any tendencies to burst or rupture by man-imposed force loads at pressures up to the order of magnitude of fifteen pounds per square inch.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in the light of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a space suit including a torso in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a back elevation view of a space suit including a torso assembly in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary right side elevation view of a space suit including a torso assembly according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the figures, the space suit includes leg portions 10, 11 to each of which may be fastened suitable boots 12, together with arm portions 13, 14 having respective glove portions 15, 16 attached thereto. The suit also includes a helmet 18 which is connected through a neck member 20 and a stiff collar portion 22 to a relatively rigid parabolic yoke 24 which is adapted to fit the contours of the shoulder around the neck of the wearer. As seen in FIG. 1, the yoke 24 has attached thereto a right hand upper frontplate 26 and a left hand upper frontplate 28. Similarly, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 the yoke has attached thereto an upper rearplate 30. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 there is also a central backplate 32, a right lower backplate 34 and a left lower backplate 36. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 3 there is also provided a right central frontplate 38, and a right lower frontplate 40. As seen in FIG. 1 there is also a left central frontplate 42 and a left lower frontplate 44. There is a sideplate just above the waist (some distance below the arm) on each of the right and left sides, as illustrated by the right sideplate 46 in FIG. 3.

As is known in the art, vertical stretching of a space suit may result from an unrestrained plug load when the suit is-infiated under pressure. In order to prevent this, restraining cables which prevent vertical or plug load stretching may extend along the legs and arms, and may be effectively used to tie some point of the space suit such as the yoke 24 downwardly along the arms 13, 14 to the gloves 15, 16, and to connect the torso section through a waist and hip structure downwardly along the legs 10, 11 to the boots 12. This plug load restraint may take any one of a number of suitable forms known to the prior art, and is illustrated herein as comprising mainly leg cables 48, arm cables 50, upper arm joints 52, a right-shoulder cable 54 and a left-shoulder cable 56. A hip and waist structure, indicated generically as 58, pro vides plug load restraint continuity between the legs 10, 11 and the torso, which is the subject of the present invention. The hip and waist concept illustrated herein is generally of the type which is disclosed and claimed in the aforementioned copending application of E. G. Vail et al., Ser. No. 710,387, filed on Mar. 4, 1968. The plates 26-46 are utilized to allow the anchoring of a plurality of restraining cables to the torso so as to provide plug load restraint continuity between the hip and waist structure 58 and the yoke 24, thus completing plug load restraint continuity for the entire suit.

Plug load restraint continuity is supplied in the front of the suit by a cable '62 extending between the plates 26 and 38, a cable 64 extending between the plates 38 and 40, a cable 66 extending between the plates 28 and 42, and a cable 68 extending between the plates 42 and 44. In the back of the suit, plug load restraint continuity is supplied by a pair of cables 70, 72 extending between plates 30 and 32, a cable 74 extending between plates 32, and 36, and a cable 76extending between plates 32, 34.

Hoop load is defined as the pressure tending to blow the suit circumferentially outward. In order to restrain the suit from this action, hoop load continuity is provided by the root cords of the convolutes in the material of the arms and legs, by suitable cables in the hip and leg structure 58, and by cables included within the torso assembly of the present invention. Convolute concept illustrated herein is generally of the type which is disclosed and claimed in the copending application of E. G. Vail et al., Ser, No. 710,387, filed on Mar. 4, 1968. Specifically, a right hand upper hoop cable 78 extends between plates 38 and 32, and a left hand upper hoop cable 80 extends between plates 42 and 32. In addition, a pair of lower right hoop cables 82, 84 extend between plates 40 and 46, and between plates 46 and 34, respectively. A

similar pair of left lower hoop cables 86, 88 extend between plates 34 and to a plate on the left side corresponding to plate 46 and then to plate 36. Thus, the cables 78-88 supply hoop load restraint along with the plates to which these cables attach, from the right front torso around the back to the left torso.

A zipper 90 supplies hoop load continuity between plates 26 and 28, between plates 38 and 42, and between plates 40 and 44. This completes hoop load restraint continuity circumferentially about the middle and lower torso. Between plate 26 at the upper right front of the suit and plate 30 at the upper back of the suit is the left shoulder restraint cable 54; between the upper left frontplate 28 and the upper rear plate 30 is the left shoulder cable 56. These two cables supply hoop load restraint continuity about the upper torso, by including in the restraint, the upper arm or lower shoulder of the suit. An additional set of cables provide combined hoop and plug load restraint by being fitted somewhat diagonally about the torso. Specifically, a front right diagonal cable 91 extends from the upper right front plate 26 to the right sideplate 46; a right rear diagonal cable 92 extends from the upper rearplate 30 to the right sideplate 46; a left front diagonal cable 94 extends from the upper right frontplate 28 to a left sideplate (not shown, corresponding to the right sideplate 46); and a left rear diagonal cable 96 extends from the upper rearplate 30 to the left sideplate (not shown). These cables pick up the axial load from each leg section and maintain structural integrity from the boot to the neck of the suit. Similarly, loads from the crotch from each leg travel through the waist-hip cable to integrate the load at plates 40, 44 via cables 64, 68 and anchored at 26, 28. Also, the diagonal'cables maintain the torso in a man-like, oval shape, and prevent the internal pressure from forcing the torso into a fully cylindrical shape. It should be noted that a torso assembly for a space suit in accordance with the present invention provides the plug and hoop load continuity as well as axial loads from the leg sections forming a completely integral structure, without the ballooning which is attendant with uncontrolled rigid torso structures known in the prior art.

This completely integral structure allows interaction of the portions of the space suit which join with the torso so as to create additional flexibility for the shoulders, the detail in the aforementioned (waist) application, the neck area, and the waist. For instance, as described in waist portion of the waist and hip assembly 58 is designed 4 left, or the forward directions with ease and comfort. However, it should be apparent to those familiar with space suits that an uncontrolled rigid torso structure would have a tendency to completely limit the position of the upper portion of the waist structure with no yielding of this position, which therefore requires a much more stringent requirement for flexible design in the waist structure than is necessary when used in conjunction with the structurally integrated torso herein. Similarly, from an understanding of shoulder joints given in said aforementioned (shoulder) application, and from knowledge of the space suit art, it should be apparent that additional flexibility in the shoulders is permitted by having a nonrigid torso, because the shoulders themselves may encroach slightly into the torso area as a result of various arm and shoulder motions which would not be possible if the torso were a single uncontrolled rigid body.

The invention is particularly concerned with providing hoop and plug load restraint by cables which are rigid under tension, but which permit flexible area motion (such as skewing) and which permit at least some amount of flexible relaxation as a result of body motions.

The plates 2646 may be affixed to the fabric of the space suit by any suitable manner. One such method is to have the plates captive within additional pieces of fabric sewn over the plates, the fabric having holes to permit passage of the cable through it so that the cables may be fastened to the plates. Additionally, adhesives may be used when desirable.

Each of the cables described herein is attached to a related plate 26-46 by a pivot, or by other suitable means whereby the cable is not rigidly or inflexibly oriented with respect to the plate, but rather it is free to move by small amounts one way or the other as a result of body motion of the wearer of the suit.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and omissions in the form and detail thereof may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described typical embodiments of my invention, that which I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a pressurized suit, a restraint torso assembly comprising:

a fabric torso enclosing structure;

a plurality of plate means affixed to said fabric torso enclosing structure and disposed, respectively, at the upper center of the back of the torso, at the middle center of the back of the torso, at the lower center of the back of the torso, at the upper center of the front of the torso, at the middle center of the front of the torso, and at the lower center of the front of the torso;

a first pair and a second pair of hoop load restraining cable means having the respective ends thereof affixed to different ones of said plate means, said first pair of said cable means joining said middle center plate means and passing around respective sides of said fabric torso-enclosing structure, said second pair of said cable means joinin said lower plate means and passing around respective sides of siad fabrictorso-enclosing structure, thereby to provide hoop load restraint; and

a plurality of plug load restraining cables having the respective ends thereof afiixed to different ones of said plate means joining said upper and middle back plate means, said middle and lower back plate means, said upper and middle front plate means and said middle and lower front plate means, thereby to provide plug load restraint.

2. The restraint torso assembly according-to claim 1 to permit bending at the waist in either the right, the wherein said second pair of cable means each comprises 6 a side plate and a pair of cables having one end of each of the other diagonally extending cable in each pair joined to the related side plate, each of said side plates being afiixed to said upper center front plate means. being affixed to a respective lower side of said fabric 7 torso enclosing srtucture; and further comprising: References Cited a plurality of diagonally extending cables, one pair 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS corresponding to each of the two sides of said fabric torso enclosing structure, one end of each diagonally gagg ;1111:2112:

extending cable being attached to the side plate corresponding therewith, the other end of one diagonally JORD AN FRANKLIN Primary Examiner extending cable of each pair being affixed to said 10 upper center back plate means and the other end KRIZMANICHASSISWM EXaIIllIlel 

